Is it surprising to anybody that a team coached by Bill Belichick is approaching this game, where they are almost universally favored, as if they are the underdogs? This is why the New England Patriots have been a top-tier franchise for the past decade. They don't take any match-up lightly.

“That’s definitely crazy, they’re a very good team,” and went on to say “They’ve got very good players and they’re going to be bringing it coming into here. We’ve got to be prepared to the best of our abilities because if we’re not, it could go ugly. We have to be ready and we have to be prepared.”

Again, not shocking that the Patriots refuse to expect an easy game. That's what makes them the Patriots. Veteran wide receiver Deion Branch basically reiterated what Gronk had to say.

“No, trust me, you’re going to see a different Texans team,”. “That we all know, I promise you that. They’re a great team. They’ve been a great team all season long. Unfortunately they ran into a couple stumbles but that’s football. Trust me, it won’t be the same team that we played five weeks ago.”